What a difference a change of scenery makes. My previous round was at Osprey Valley, where the greens were the fastest I've played this year. Two days later, I went to King's Forest, where the greens were the slowest I've played this year. They were healthy and smooth, but slow as molasses in January.
Driver, 8-iron carried me to the opening green, only to 3-putt for bogey. Driver and 5-wood left me in the woods off the tee on holes 2 and 3, respectively. In both cases, I punched out, then missed the green. A chip and two putts earned double-bogey on both holes.
I was in the trees and punching out again on hole 4, a par-5. This time, I nailed the green with my third shot – a towering 5-wood. Par was the result. A 4-iron reached the green off the tee on hole 5, a par-3. I was far from the cup, however, and 3-putt for bogey. Two consecutive 3-irons and a lob wedge carried me just off the back of the green on hole 6, another par-5. A chip and a tap-in finished the hole off for par.
I completed the front nine going bogey, par, par. My tee shot found a bunker on hole 7, a short par-3. I overshot the green with my bunker shot, trickling into a penalty area. My fourth shot was a nice pitch, followed by a short putt. Hole 8 was a textbook par, as I hit the fairway, then the green, followed by a 2-putt. My approach on hole 9 was from the right rough, and I needed an up and down from just off the green to convert the par.
I hit the fairway, then found the edge of the green on hole 10. I had a legitimate birdie chance, but the slow green killed that fairly quickly. The birdie putt was well short and I finished with par. I had the same result on hole 11, where the course really starts to get tough. After a green in regulation, I 2-putt well from distance. I was in a greenside bunker after two shots on hole 12, a tight dogleg. Like a bonehead, I picked the ball clean out of the bunker, sending it into the woods 30 yards behind the green. I was livid at the resulting triple-bogey.
Hole 13, a par-4, is among the hardest on the course. I hit the fairway with 3-iron, then pushed a 4-iron to the edge of the woods right of the green. I was short sided, with a massive bunker between me and the green. Oh yeah, overhead branches blocked the aerial route and I had a nasty lie. I pitched one sideways to the fairway in front of the green – that was all I could do. I was ten yards off the green, but lagged a putt to within 3 feet. It was a great recovery for bogey.
After par on a short par-3, I took double-bogey on a par-5. My drive was in the right rough, but the ball took a bad bounce off the hard ground and kicked into some bushes. I did hit a great cutting 5-wood after taking a penalty, but my short game let me down near the green. Hole 16 is a short par-4 that also produced double-bogey. I usually hit iron off the tee, but was feeling confident with driver. Unfortunately, I pushed one right into the woods. It didn't help that the slow green sabotaged my bogey attempt.
I finished the round reasonably strong with a bogey and birdie – the former coming on a par-3 and the latter on a par-5. My drive on the last hole was right of the fairway, but I hit a nice 8-iron over some small trees to get back in position, then followed up with a precise lob wedge from 75 yards. The ball released to very near the cup at the back of the green, leaving a virtual tap-in for the bird.
Score: 88
Putts: 31
Fairways: 7
Greens: 7
Penalties: 3
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